Gilles De Bilde

Infobox Football biography
playername = "Gilles De Bilde"


fullname = Gilles De Bilde
dateofbirth = birth date and age|1971|6|9
cityofbirth = Zellik
countryofbirth = Belgium
dateofdeath =
cityofdeath =
countryofdeath =
height = height|ft=5|in=10
position = Striker
youthyears =
youthclubs =
years = 1992-1995
1995-1997
1997-1999
1999-2001
2000-2001
2001-2003
2003-2004
2005-2007
clubs = Eendracht Aalst
RSC Anderlecht
PSV Eindhoven
Sheffield Wednesday
→Aston Villa (loan)
RSC Anderlecht
Lierse SK
KVC Willebroek-Meerhof
caps(goals) = 86 (40)
46 (22)
49 (24)
59 (13)
4 (0)
44 (14)
15 (1)
34 (4)
nationalyears = 1994-2000
nationalteam = Belgium
nationalcaps(goals) = 25 (2)

Gilles De Bilde (born June 9, 1971 in Zellik) is a former Belgian footballer who played as a striker. At club level, he played for K.S.C. Eendracht Aalst, Anderlecht, Sheffield Wednesday, PSV and Lierse.

At K.S.C. Eendracht Aalst, he won the 1994 Belgian Player of the Year and hit 21 goals in 33 games in 1994-95, prompting R.S.C. Anderlecht to sign the volatile De Bilde in 1995, who responded scoring 22 goals in 46 league games.

De Bilde gained somewhat of a reputation of "enfant terrible", after he hit one of his former teammates Krist Porte during an Anderlecht-Aalst game. That scandal, plus another incident when he punched two nurses after he was denied access to a hospital room where his father had been taken following a brain haemorrhage [cite news | url=http://findarticles.com/p/articles/mi_qn4158/is_19961227/ai_n14073064 | title=Disgraced De Bilde behind bars for a night | accessdate=2008-08-07] , prompted De Bilde to accept a move abroad, with Dutch side PSV Eindhoven paying £3millon in August 1997. He scored 24 goals in 49 league matches.

A £3million move to Sheffield Wednesday in August 1999 settled De Bilde down. His combative style made him initially popular with Owls fans. He also became the club's leading goal scorer that season scoring 11 goals. In October, he ended a nine-month exile from the national side having walked out. De Bilde scored 13 goals in his 59 league games for "the Owls", adding four games on loan at Aston Villa.

Despite an initially fruitful start to his spell with Sheffield Wednesday, De Bilde's association with the side's decline as a footballing force and the perception that he was a mercenary figure who cared little about the club's fortunes made him a particular hate figure for Wednesday fans. De Bilde became synonymous with the crop of players who received hefty salaries yet failed to perform to the expected standard. This was especially the case following the club's relegation to the old Division One (nowadays known as the Football League Championship).

Then-Sheffield manager Paul Jewell claimed that, during his time at Wednesday, De Bilde turned down a loan deal because there was no-one to look after his dogs. The striker rejoined Anderlecht in 2001 on a free transfer and played in the UEFA Champions League before moving on to SK Lierse in 2003. His love for "man's best friends" got him into trouble again in September 2006. He missed a match for his club at the time, Willebroek Meerhof (of the Belgian Third Division), due to the death of his pet dog. [cite news | url=http://www.footballersareidiots.co.uk/2006/09/19/de-bilde-in-the-dog-house/ | title=De Bilde in the dog house | accessdate=2006-09-24]

De Bilde played 25 times for Belgium, scoring two goals. He made the squad for Euro 2000 but only made a single substitute appearance, in the 0-2 loss against Turkey.

After retiring, De Bilde became a regular football analyst in Belgian TV-programmes commenting the Champions League and the domestic league. He also appeared as a model for Belgian fashion designer Dirk Bikkembergs, and appeared regularly in TV shows around celebrity challenges like "Dancing on Ice", "Celebrity Shock" and others.

References

External links

*soccerbase|12663|Gilles De Bilde